The Twilight of the Multiverse
by scifidude
Summary: Big scifi crossover. A new evil - the stuff of nightmares - rises, and twilight falls upon all things. Only heroes from across time and space can stop it. Includes Star Trek, Stargate, Doctor Who, Aliens/Predators, and more.
1. Chp 1: Darkness Falls

Yesterday was my final day of high school. To celebrate, I'm giving you the first chapter of a story that I have had at the back of my mind for quite some time, but never got around to actually writing, until now. I hope you enjoy it.

As I said in the summary, this has nothing to do with the Twilight book series. I came up with the name long before I had even heard of the franchise. This story has to do with my love for all things science fiction and my desire to tell a grand, epic adventure.

Of course, I own nothing but my own characters, and they are few and far between.

Finally, I would like to thank my parents who fostered my love of science and science fiction. Without them I could not have done this. Now enjoy the show.

**The Twilight of the Multiverse**

In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Those are the first words spoken within the good book, but there was one detail never mentioned. Perhaps man was never meant to know it, or perhaps it was simply not important to the grand tale, but when it spoke of the creation of the earth, it actually meant _earths_. There is, in fact, an entire multiverse out there. With it come infinite tales, infinite stories, infinite wonders and infinite dreams. This is a tale of the Multiverse.

This is a tale of legendary heroes, of ultimate evil, and of the darkest day in the history of the Multiverse.

This is the tale of the Twilight of all Things. The Twilight of the Multiverse.

**Prologue**

**Chapter 1: Darkness Falls**

The Universe, one of many

An Unknown Planetoid in the Betelgeuse System

Date and time unknown

This was far from the first time he had run for his life, but this was the first time he was truly scared of being caught by what was behind him. No, he did not get scared easily. He was the Doctor after all.

He could hear them behind him. Their scratching, their hissing, their clawing and screaming – it never ended. It was constant. How could the Master think that he could control such things? It did not matter; it was too late to save him now. They had torn him into so many pieces that not even the amazing regenerative powers of a Time Lord could save him. Part of him nearly wept at this. They may have been enemies, but they were both Time Lords – which made them like brothers. Now he was truly alone.

For the first time, the Doctor truly saw how dark, and black, and filth ridden the tunnels he was running through were. They seemed to ooze darkness. For once there seemed to be no light at the end of tunnel. Such was how his two hearts felt as the sound of demons grew louder behind him. Whatever the cost, he had to get back to the TARDIS, or the sun would never rise on the multiverse again.

Then the pain in his chest began again.

His body screamed at him to stop, but he had to keep going. He just kept repeating the same word over and over again – TARDIS, TARDIS, TARDIS. He clutched his chest and ran faster. The tunnels ahead of him never seemed to end, but end they did. To him, the TARDIS seemed like the most beautiful sight in the world, but as another stab of white-hot pain shot through his chest, he knew it was already too late.

Only half-conscience, he stumbled over to the TARDIS. The great machine (if it could truly be called that) had been twisted by the Master's equally twisted mind. Wires, tubes, and cables were strewn throughout the hull in places that they shouldn't be. While the arrangement seemed random, there was, in fact, a pattern and purpose behind it. The Master had broken down the safeguards that kept it from going into other realities – other universes. It was never meant to do that, but that is exactly what the Master would have used it for had he ever gotten the chance. The Doctor had to make sure that it could never be used that way.

The TARDIS was already locked with a very special key, but it needed more. The Doctor held his sonic screwdriver to the lock and pressed a multitude of different buttons on the tiny device. A sound came from the screwdriver; a sound so complex that it changed every few milliseconds. This was a sonic lock. It was a combination of sonic frequencies that were so intricate that humanities greatest code breakers would not even have a chance of breaking it. As long as no one produced that exact same code, the door to all realities would remain closed, indefinitely. It was his final failsafe to prevent anyone from ever using the TARDIS again in the event of his death. The TARDIS was just outside of the normal time stream to make it nearly indestructible. The only way to get into the great time machine was through the door, and that door was now closed.

With that, the last of his strength faded, and he collapsed to the ground. He was able to lift himself up just enough to rest his back against the TARDIS. The pain in his chest grew worse and worse as the demonic screaming grew louder and louder. Not even his heavy panting and the thumping of his two hearts could drown out the unholy noise. He could see them moving in the shadows. They were almost here. Finally, one of them crawled out of the darkness. It was on all fours, but quickly rose up on its hind legs, making it well over six feet tall. There was no denying that this thing was from hell – bony skin as black as pitch, a body so thin that it was skeletal, strange tube-like structures jutting out of its back like four deformed wings, and a tail made of blades. Its eyeless, featureless and soulless face stood before a head that traveled far back, like the crescent moon turned upside-down and cut to jagged spikes by a cosmic blade. This black beast of death was known and feared throughout the universe and was called countless names: Black Demon, Serpent, the Inner Darkness, Terror of the Underworld, and That-Which-Is-Followed-By-Death.

In another time and another place, the race known as humans would call it a Xenomorph.

The Xenomorph slowly strolled towards the Doctor until its slimy, toothed maw was mere inches from his face. The creature's hissing was barely above a whisper, yet it spoke volumes. It told the Doctor that the demon could kill him at any time, but it didn't. What was most terrifying about it was that the Doctor knew exactly why it wasn't killing him. He clutched his chest as another wave of pain shot through him. Soon, the Xenomorph was joined by more of its black brood. Finally, from the darkness, surrounded by her demons, came the devil herself – The Alien Queen. The Xenomorph mother dwarfed her demonic children; she was tall as the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex itself. Between her gargantuan limbs lied two more smaller ones, and whereas the backs of her spawn were lined with tube-like structures, her back was a row needles. But perhaps most startling of all, her head bore a great, curved crest that gleamed like a dark shield from which death stood behind. The great she-devil screamed a scream that sounded like the death cries of a thousand lost souls. It could only mean one thing – it was time.

The pain grew so great that every part of his body wanted to scream, but he refused to give his body that release. If he could only have one more victory it would be that he would not scream. So even as his chest burned, he kept silent. The Xenomorphs almost seemed to be cheering as the first drops of blood began to appear on the white shirt over his bulging chest. The Doctor had always been a man of science, not of religion, but as his vision grew dark, he prayed to anyone or anything who would listen that in some universe, somewhere, the Doctor of another reality would be able to succeed where he had failed. There came a scream, not from the Doctor, but from in his chest.

Blood splattered on the walls, and in one universe, parallel to the one we know, the Time Lords faded into extinction.

And like an unholy phoenix, a new creature was born.

The Queen and her brood surrounded their newborn family member. But suddenly, the closest one stepped back. Something was wrong. The Queen bent her massive head down to examine the child closely, using senses so acute that having eyesight would have been superfluous. There was definitely something different about this child. Even though it was just a newborn, it already had fully developed limbs. But most startling of all, the child's head lacked the distinctive upside-down crescent moon of its progenitors. If anything, its face seemed almost… human.

The Xenomorph Queen screamed in uncontrollable rage. The child was a deformed mutant. Such things were not tolerated in the Hive. She did not even want to touch it, so she instructed her eldest spawn to kill it for her. With that, the most heavily scarred of the Xenomorphs slowly approached the child as it crawled over the body of its host. It was so consumed with the thought of tearing the freak limb from limb that it did not even notice that the child was reaching for the device known as the sonic screwdriver. The black demon brought its clawed hands up to strike the child, but before it could, the child grabbed the screwdriver and turned it on, using it in a way that it was never meant to be used.

An ear-splitting sound came from the device, and every single Xenomorph began to scream.

Even the Queen clutched her larger arms to her inner ears from which a sickly green acid that was her blood flowed. She contorted and went into a spasm, but nothing could drown out the horrible sound. Finally, she and the rest of her demon spawn fell to the ground. Their brains had boiled in their heads.

With the immediate danger out of the way, the child, who was growing even more quickly than a normal member of its kind, picked itself up on two legs and walked over to the TARDIS. The newborn was already tall enough to reach the handle. It stared at the magnificent machine with the eyes that its brethren lacked and knew exactly what to do. Without even the hint of hesitation, the child used the sonic screwdriver to produce a symphony of sounds. It matched the sound of the sonic lock perfectly. With that done, all the child had to do was turn the key and open the door, and the TARDIS was now open to it.

The Inner walls of the TARDIS, which shined with a golden metallic polish, were in stark contrast to the black, slimy halls of the outside tunnels. Nearly every being that had ever entered into the TARDIS, sentient or otherwise, had been surprised to find it to be larger on the inside, but not the child. It knew exactly what to expect. As it walked from the doorway to the consoles, the fleshy tones of its skin gave way to obsidian black, which showed that it was already reaching the final stages of its development. The child pressed buttons, and turned dials, and flipped switches, not in random disarray, but with a pattern that showed that it knew exactly what it was doing. For you see, with the birth of this child, the Doctor's worst fears had come to light. The alien species known as Xenomorphs have had drones, they have had workers, they have had warriors, they have had queens, and they have even had kings, but what they have always lacked is a Doctor.

Until now

The TARDIS produced that strange, distinctive sound as it slowly began to disappear, leaving only bodies behind. Within the golden walls of the great time machine stood this Alien Doctor, and from its mouth full of blades came a sound that had been hidden within the mind of the Doctor for hundreds of years, but had never been spoken since time began.

"For it is written, that Twilight shall fall upon all things, and the Dawn will never come again."

**To be continued**

There you have it, the first of many chapters. I hope you all enjoyed it. In case I did not make it clear enough, don't worry, the Doctor in this chapter is one from an alternate universe, not the one that we know from the series. He is just fine and will be appearing soon. If you have any questions, they should eventually be answered in future chapters. I should warn you, I am also working on other stories, so for right now, expect sporadic updates. Eventually I will be able to update it more frequently. Until then, please review.

Until next time!


	2. Chp 2: In the Final Frontier, No One

If you read the first chapter when it was first uploaded, than I bet you're surprised to see this updated. It's been over a year, but I finally got a chance to finish chapter 2. I would explain to you why it took so long, but it would probably just bore you. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this Chapter, and hopefully I can finish the next one in a lot less time

All characters not created by me are, naturally, not owned by me but rather their respective owners.

P.S. – This story is now being proof red, so hopefully, there should be a lot less grammatical errors.

**Part 1: The Gathering**

**Chapter 2: In the Final Frontier, No One Can Hear You Scream**

The Universe, one of many

The Klingon-Federation Border

Stardate 5956.2 (late 2269)

"…To boldly go where no man has gone before." Those were the words spoken by Zefram Cochrane not long after his historic first warp-speed flight. But now, James Tiberius Kirk, captain of the U.S.S. _Enterprise_ found he could go no further. What would appear to most as any other region of space was in fact the barrier between the two grandest civilizations of the Alpha Quadrant (and Beta Quadrant). On one side stood (or rather floated) the _Enterprise_: the pride and joy of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets. Its sleek contours and sliver-white hull stood as a symbol of peace and prosperity for all to see. However on the other side of a divide infinitesimally small, yet infinitely wide, a very different kind of vessel stood. Unitarian grey with rough, sharp edges, it was a symbol of functionality over any sort of comfort at all. Such was a vessel of the mighty Klingon Empire.

War and Peace

Kirk saw none of this, however. Instead, his vision was filled with the wickedly smiling face of the captain of the other vessel. "It has been a long time since we last met, hasn't it Commander Kor?"

The Klingon captain's face briefly turned to one of disgust at the obviously unhappy memory before resuming the clearly fake smile. "Yes, I don't believe that I have had the 'pleasure' of seeing you face to face since the Organian Peace Treaty was signed."

Before replying, Kirk took notice of the tiny ridges on Kor's forehead. Ever since the incident with Archer's _Enterprise_, the Augments, the Klingons, and the human-DNA-containing-virus created from the Klingons' attempts to make their own augments, a large portion of the Klingon population was born without ridges. At first, there was prejudice, but the Klingons had always cared more about the heart than the body, so they were eventually accepted. Even so, every Klingon wants his or her ridges. So, for the past 100 years, Klingon scientist and doctors have searched for a way to not only restore ridges, but to make it so that those recipients can pass their new ridges down to their children.

Only recently was such a process found. The first step was an injection of a specialized retrovirus that would destroy the human DNA. The second step involved periodic injections of Klingon proteins and hormones that would promote quick ridge growth. This second step takes time, however, and Kirk could see from the size of Kor's ridges that he had only begun the process. Even so, the Empire was really pushing to have this process done to all Klingons as soon as possible. Kirk theorized that by the Next Generation, there wouldn't be a single ridge-less Klingon left.

"Now," Kor said while still smiling, "if we are done with the pleasantries, I am assuming there is a reason for this particular visit."

The view screen could be filled with static and have a curtain over it and Kirk would still be able to see the impatience on Kor's face. "Yes. Spock, would you like to take care of this." He said that for no other reason than to make things take longer and annoy the Klingon.

Spock, who realized what Kirk was doing, gave his customary raised eyebrow (he was not the only one to notice, however, for a loud sigh could be heard from Dr. Leonard McCoy). "Approximately one week, four days, twelve hours, and seven minutes ago (another sigh came from McCoy, along with the phrase "approximately?") Deep Space Station K-7 detected your ship releasing several long range probes and sending them across the border without any advanced warning. This is clearly against the Organian Peace Treaty, though I assume that you already know this."

At that, Kor's face let go of the falsified smile and became very grim. "The purpose of the probes was to help us in a mission of scientific exploration. You of all people should appreciate that."

Kirk could tell that McCoy was holding in the urge to yell "bull", so he responded to Kor as quickly as he could. "Now Kor, you and I both know that what you're telling us isn't true. Unlike the Federation, The Klingon Empire leaves exploration to smaller vessels. A D-7 type battle cruiser is used for only one thing – war. Now, how about you tell us what you're really doing here."

For a few seconds, Kor simply stared furiously at his human counterpart. Finally, he admitted to himself that none of them would be going anywhere until he gave them a straight answer. "Very well, about six of your earth days ago, we received a distress signal coming from a nearby Klingon colony."

Before Kor could continue, Chekov nearly burst out laughing. "A distress signal? Do you honestly expect us to believe that this has something to do with Klingons doing something that you people consider so dishonorable? I thought Klingons never call for help."

If Chekov had been talking about any other species, he would have accused him of using a stereotype, but these were Klingons. They did not normally call for help, and they were proud of that fact. As for Kor himself, his face got even more serious (if that was possible). "And that is exactly why we are taking this so seriously. We traveled to the colony as fast as we could, but when we arrived, all we found were walls burnt from disrupter fire and blood. There was no sign of what happened to the colony. We searched every planet in the sector for clues, or at least, we searched every planet on our side of the sector. We found nothing."

"So you sent the probes to investigate our side of the border," Kirk replied. Despite how certain his voice seemed, he had trouble believing what he was hearing. An entire colony of Klingons kidnapped or killed; it didn't seem possible. "Well, in the interest of peace, I am willing to offer the full services of the _Enterprise_ to help in any way we can."

"Thank you," Kor said with a lot of sarcasm and just a little bit of disgust, "but the Klingon Empire is perfectly capable of dealing with its own problems. We do not need help from the Federation."

The Klingon Commander was about to continue when Uhura interrupted. "Captain, we're receiving an emergency distress signal." She paused for a second with a shocked look on her face before continuing. "Sir, it's in Klingonese."

Kor turned to someone off screen and said, "Soldier, where is that signal coming from." The off-screen soldier responded by saying that it was coming from a Klingon colony on Sigma Dantares II which was about three hours from here at maximum warp. "Then what are you waiting for," Kor explained, "plot a course and get going!"

"Wait, Commander!" Kirk said. He practically leapt from his chair and approached the screen, making sure that Klingon on the other end was paying attention. "If whatever this threat is was capable of defeating an entire colony of Klingons then it's possible that a single battle cruiser may not be enough to stop it. Let us come with you and see if we can help."

Kirk lost count of how many expressions went through Kor's face. He went from anger, to shock, to understanding, back to anger, and so forth, and so forth. The Klingons may have been a race of warriors, but they weren't barbarians, and they weren't stupid either. Kor knew that Kirk's proposition made sense, but by Kahless, the Federation was their enemy. How could he work with them? Then again, the humans did have a saying about enemies and enemies and friends or something like that. He couldn't remember. The only human literature he ever read was Shakespeare. He wanted more time to think about this, but he simply had none. "Fine!" he nearly screamed, "But we're in Klingon space now. I'm in charge."

Kirk smiled and said, "I wouldn't have it any other way, Enterprise out." With that, the image of Kor disappeared and was replaced by the cold steel of a D-7 type battle cruiser. Captain Kirk then walked over to his chair and said to Sulu, "Set a course for the Sigma Dantares system and see if Scotty can't get a few extra decimal points out of the warp drive." Sulu gave a hardy "Yes sir" in response.

As Kirk turned his attention to the other side of the bridge, he found McCoy staring at him with a worried look on his face. "Jim," he said with the kindest voice he could muster, "why are we helping the Klingons?"

Kirk was about to answer, but Spock beat him to it. "Despite the Organian Peace Treaty, relations with the Klingon Empire remain unstable, as our numerous encounters with them can attest to. A show of mercy on our part could greatly help Federation/Klingon relations."

"And what if this is all one big trap set up by the Klingons?" McCoy asked, obviously angry that his concerns were being ignored.

"Such actions would be dishonorable," Spock countered. "Klingons consider honor to be above all else."

The frustrated Dr. McCoy let out a puff of air. "Well, at least you didn't say that it was illogical."

Spock raised one of his eyebrows. "For a Klingon to act dishonorable would be illogical, Doctor."

"Of course it would," McCoy said sarcastically. "Something still fills wrong about this. Jim, what do you…" He trailed off when he saw that Jim was no longer listening to the conversation. Instead, he was staring at the view screen, which showed the stars streaking by like flaming arrows, signaling that they were now at warp.

"Three hours," Kirk said, barely above a whisper. "Three hours could mean the difference between life and death for hundreds of people – even Klingons." Silence fell over the entire bridge after that. It remained that way for quite some time.

T

Sigma Dantares II

Three hours later

Sigma Dantares II was a very typical Klingon colony – a _very_ typical Klingon colony. The fields were grey and brown. The beautiful greens that humanity cherished were nowhere to be seen. Only 40 percent of its surface was covered with life-giving water. To live here would be a challenge to anyone – exactly how Klingons liked it.

Kirk looked at the planet for just a second longer before turning to his first officer. "Spock, what can you tell us about Sigma Dantares II?"

Spock turned to his science station and spoke as he read. "It is a rather recent colony, settled only six months ago. At last check, it had a population of 268. Due to its proximity to the border, it has a heavy armament."

Kirk was extremely worried about the "heavy armament" part. That meant that whoever (or whatever) was attacking the Klingons was even more dangerous than he thought. "What about life signs?"

"Uncertain," Spock said. "Something is scrambling the signal. I do detect life signs, but I cannot determine if they are Klingon or not, nor can I detect how many there are. At best, I can confirm that there are over 200 life signs. Furthermore, if we are talking an invasion of some kind, then I do not know how it got here, for I do not detect any signs of ships having been in orbit within 24 hours."

"Okay then," Kirk said while getting up from his chair, "Spock, McCoy, and Sulu – you're with me. Gather a security team and meet me in the transporter room. Uhura, tell Kor that we will be beaming down as soon as possible and let Scotty know that he's in command until we get back." He finished speaking just as he, Spock, McCoy, and Sulu entered the turbolift.

"Already done, Captain," Uhura answered.

"That's why you're the best, lieutenant," Kirk said as the turbolift doors closed behind them.

The halls were dark. Or at least they were, until they were filled with golden light. The glow of the transporter beams faded to reveal thirteen figures – six humans, six Klingons, and one Vulcan. All of them (except for the human doctor and the Vulcan) were carrying the most powerful phaser rifles their technology could muster (for the Klingons, they were technically disrupter rifles, but the effect was the same). They were not taking any chances. The first thing that Captain Kirk noticed when his vision returned was how dark the corridor was. Klingon hallways were never brightly lit, but this was something else. "I'm assuming the power must be off," he said as he turned on the light that was attached to his rifle. Sulu, The three human security guards, and all of the Klingons did the same.

"Yes," Commander Kor said, "It would seem that the generator is down." It seemed as if he was about to say something else, but he stopped cold when his light exposed something on the normally grey walls. Kirk instantly saw what had stunned the normally stern Klingon. The walls were splattered with lavender, as if someone had thrown buckets of paint without any care of where the paint went. But this was not paint.

It was Klingon blood.

Of the thirteen, only Spock did not have shock on his face, but anyone who knew him well enough could tell that even he was troubled.

"What could do this?" one of the security guards said to no one in particular.

"Where are the bodies?" whispered another guard.

"What the hell are we dealing with?" Sulu asked.

"I don't know Sulu," Kirk said, "but I intend to find out. Spock, do you have any more information on the life signs we detected?"

Spock held up his tricorder and swept back and forth in several quarter-circles. He did this several times before responding to his captain. "Unfortunately no, whatever was scrambling the sensors on the ship is doing the same to my tricorder. I cannot tell where the Klingons are."

Kirk liked this situation less and less every minute he stayed here. They would have to work fast. "Okay Kor, this is a Klingon colony, where do you suggest we go first?"

"If the soldiers absolutely had to retreat, they would set themselves up in the living quarters where they could better protect the children. It is also one of the more fortified areas and is right next to the armory."

Kirk could visually tell that McCoy was holding back his tongue about the idea of putting the children's living quarters right next to the armory. "Okay," Kirk said, "let's get started." He looked towards Kor and motioned his hand to the hallway in front of them. "Lead the way."

Kor started walking forward with the rest of the landing party right behind him. The dark tunnels actually seemed to grow darker as they went (if that was possible). Now, Captain Kirk considered himself to be a rather brave man. If his crew was in danger, he would gladly charge into a herd of Mugato or a ship full of Gorn to save them. But there was something about this place that ran shivers down his spine. It wasn't like he hadn't ever seen a Klingon structure before, but there was something about this place that just seemed… wrong. Even the emergency lights were down, only giving off the occasional flicker of lavender light. No matter where they went, more blood appeared on the walls, splattered in the most gratuitous ways. The only other signs of a struggle were the blackened marks caused by disrupter fire.

Kirk took a moment to ask Spock if any of the disrupter residues came from a disrupter that wasn't Klingon in origin. Spock confirmed that so far, they were all Klingon disrupters. That only worried Kirk more. That meant that the enemy was either using Klingon weapons, or they weren't using any sort of energy or projectile weapon at all. What sort of creature could defeat a Klingon in hand-to-hand combat?

Absolutely all of his gut feelings told him to get out of here right now. That was when he heard it. Some unholy noise so infinitesimally quiet that it was almost nonexistent was coming from behind him. In that single moment before Captain Kirk could turn around to find its source, he heard another sound.

A scream

The entire team turned to see a most horrible sight. One of the security guards, the one heading up the rear, was no longer standing – he was hanging. He was held off of the ground by a blackened spear that plunged all of the way through his chest, causing red blood to flow down his equally red uniform. His face was contorted in agony. They were so stunned that it took a moment for them to realize that it was not a spear that had impaled the young ensign, it was a tail.

Whispers of "my God" and "by Kahless" were spoken as the faint lights revealed the beast, hanging from the ceiling. The first thing that struck Kirk was that the black creature looked like a demonic cross between an insect and a reptile. Hissing like a snake, as black as night, as thin and as bony as a skeleton, and as terrifying as an ancient monster, it seemed like a nightmare come to life.

In the instant that it took to get over the shock, Kor aimed his disrupter rifle at the beast and fired. The creature seemed to be expecting this, however, for as soon as Kor raised his weapon, it sprang to life. It screeched and moved like lightning towards a large hole in the wall, letting the ensign slip from his tail as he went. The rest of the team tried to fire at the demon as it slipped through the hole into the darkness.

Now, the Klingon soldiers may not have cared that much about their human allies, but it did not take much thought to conclude that the monster had attacked the colonists in the same way. As such, it was not really surprising that one of the soldiers unsheathed his _bat'leth_ and cried out, "Come out of there and fight with honor you spawn of _Fek'lhr_!" The young Klingon ran towards the hole with his crescent-moon-shaped sword held high. Kor tried to call him back into formation, but it was already too late. Just as the soldier reached the opening, the black beast launched itself from the darkness. The Klingon brought his _bat'leth_ down on his enemy's chest, spilling its yellow-green blood. But something was wrong. The demon's blood burst from its chest as if it was under extreme pressure, causing it to cover the Klingon's face and torso. That was when he started to scream.

His skin and uniform began to smoke, and Kirk, in horror, realized that he was melting. The Klingon crumpled up in agony as his skin dissolved into nothingness. Before the group could even make a move towards him, all that was left was a lower torso. Even his _bat'leth_ disappeared into the yellow-green spray. As for the beast itself, despite its unearthly nature, it apparently could not survive being disemboweled. It toppled on top of what was left of its last victim. Its deadly blood continued to flow from its open wound, which ate away at even the floor itself.

It dawned on Kirk that in a matter of seconds, they had already lost two members of their landing party. "Bones, I want to know what the hell that thing is and if there are more of them out there." Dr. McCoy hurried over to the deceased creature with his tricorder. As he did so, Kirk turned to the security guard that had become the first casualty of the team. For once, Kirk did not need McCoy to tell him that he was dead. He was new; Kirk had not even got the chance to learn his name.

"Jim, I've never seen anything like this," McCoy said as he examined the vile alien carcass with his tricorder. "Spock, come here and see this. I need someone to confirm what I'm seeing." McCoy continued talking as Spock came over with his own tricorder. "This lifeform seems to be germanium based, but I see segments of DNA that appears to be carbon based. There's barely any respiratory system to speak of. It has both an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton, both of which are composed mostly of polarized silicon. The creature's blood, and yes, that green stuff is its blood, has the lowest pH level of any compound I've ever seen. It's even stronger than Horta acid, and they produce their acid in a special sack, not in their bloodstream. And I can't make heads or tails of this thing's brain!"

"Is it sentient?" Kirk asked

"That is the most peculiar part," Spock answered in his 'fascinated' voice, "my initial scans of the brain structure indicated that it was not only sentient, but possibly even telepathic, but further scans show that it was using none of the necessary parts of its brain needed for that level of conscious thought. No, I do not believe it was sentient, but it was highly intelligent for an animal."

Kirk turned towards Kor who, along with the rest of his team, had gathered around what was left of their fallen comrade. Without warning, they threw their heads back in unison and howled like a pack of wolves under the full moon. Assuming that his memory was correct, Kirk was relatively certain that this was a Klingon ritual meant to usher the glorious dead into the gates of _Sto-Vo-Kor_ – the afterlife. Kirk gave them time to compose themselves before asking Kor, "I'm assuming that this thing isn't native to Sigma Dantares II or _Qo'nos_."

For a moment, Kor did not respond. He simply said to himself, "There was no honor in that death." He looked shaken. Finally, He realized that Kirk had been talking to him and once again became the stern warrior that he had always been. "No, I have never seen anything like it before, though I doubt that we have seen the last one. There are no doubt more."

"I have no doubt about that," Kirk said. "Come, we have to keep going. We have to find any survivors. Everybody, keep your eyes open."

They walked in silence after that. Their silence was matched by the unnatural quiet of the corridors. They remained in that state of silence until it was broken by the far-off sound of tearing flesh coming from around a corner. Both Kirk and Kor silently motioned for the rest of the team to sneak around the corner and see what was happening. Kirk turned around the corner to see one of the dread creatures feasting on what could only be described as a piece of raw meat. Kirk hoped that it was eating a _targ_ or some other kind of animal and not something (or rather, someone) else. The monstrosity thrust out its inner mouth/tongue and brought it back in, each time taking a piece of flesh with it. The thing had not noticed them, though Kirk doubted that it was because it was facing away from them, since the last one had no eyes. Sulu silently raised his phaser rifle at the creature, but the last moment before he could fire, the creature turned towards them. They were all shocked beyond belief by what they saw.

With the last creature, most of the creature's elongated head was rough and jagged. The front of its head, where the eyes should have been, however, was smooth. Not so with this current creature. The front of its head had ridges – Klingon ridges.

"NOOO!" one of the Klingon guards screamed as he saw his people's most well known feature being stolen by a demon. He fired his disrupter at the beast, but it was already ready for them. It leaped over the blast and onto the ceiling, where it clung to exposed wires and cables. It tried to move off to a good hiding place to attack from, but Sulu managed to get a shot off, hitting the creature in the leg. The wound caused it to fall to the ground. With one of its legs wounded, the creature had no chance of escape. Another Klingon soldier shot off his rifle, striking the beast in the head. Now, Starfleet phasers typically work by overloading the nerves and shocking the victim into unconsciousness, which is why a stunned individual seems unharmed. Only at extremely high levels or at point-blank range does the heat from the beam cause physical damage. Klingon disrupters do not work that way. As their name suggests, they disrupt the bonds between molecules, allowing the plasma contained within the beam to cause even more damage. So, when the blast struck the creature in the face, its entire head went with it.

The demonic creature was standing far away from the away team when it was struck, but due to the energy of the blast, the monstrosity's, already pressurized, blood flew far. So far, in fact, that a tiny little speck managed to land on Captain Kirk's arm. Despite its miniscule size, the acidic blood was potent enough to eat all the way through his shirt (the materials that it was made of were designed to resist such chemical reactions) and cause a small burn mark on his arm.

Kirk realized that if that creature had been killed while it was close to his attacker, that person (and anyone else around him) would be dead. "Everyone, switch your weapons to vaporize. We won't get as many shots, but if we want to get out of here, we can't have those splash backs."

"I don't understand. How could the thing have Klingon ridges?" Sulu asked as he adjusted his phaser.

McCoy leaned over the creature's body and scanned it with his tricorder. "I didn't say anything earlier because I was uncertain, but now I am. Remember how I said that a portion of this alien's DNA appeared to be carbon based. Well, I think that portion is Klingon DNA."

Kirk heard a few members of both teams mutter, "How is that possible?" He also heard a "fascinating" come from Mr. Spock. He turned to Kor and said, "Please tell me that these things aren't some sort of Klingon experiment gone awry." His face was stern, showing that he wanted an answer – now.

"NO!" Kor retorted with great force. "We would never use another life form, even one of our own creation, to fight our battles for us. That is not the way of Khaless!" He was now visibly angry at Captain Kirk."

"What about all those alien races your people have enslaved over the years?" Kirk shouted back. "You use them for your dirty work all the time. Had the Organians been the corporeal life forms that they appeared to be, you would have enslaved them as well!"

"I will not deny that we have used other races for labor, but we never force them into battle! Never!"

"Then where the HELL did they come from? They're not native to this planet, and there hasn't been a ship in orbit for days! How else could they have gotten here?"

Before Kor could respond and continue this shouting match, Spock interrupted both of them. "Captain, I hear something coming. I think it is the creatures."

Even as everyone became silent, Kirk heard nothing. He knew, however, that this meant nothing, for his first officer's Vulcan ears were far more sensitive than his own. "Where are they coming from?" Kirk asked Spock.

Spock began to scan with his tricorder. As he did so, the sound of claws scraping against steel, the sound of teeth gnashing together, and the sound of throats hissing became audible to the rest of them. It soon dawned on them that they were facing not one, not two, but an entire legion of demons. Now, Kirk fully understood that it was a misconception that Vulcans had no emotions at all. Rather, they suppress them. For Kirk, who had known Spock since the beginning of their mission on the _Enterprise_ nearly five years ago, reading those subtle hints of emotion had become second nature to him. So Kirk could see tiny bits of fear breaking through as Spock looked up at him and said, "Everywhere!"

Chaos erupted from the ceiling in the form of one of the black beasts breaking though panels and wires of rusted metal. Acting as fast as his reflexes would allow, one of the security guards fired his phaser rifle at the creature, vaporizing it instantly. But it was not alone. All around them, darkness crawled out of the woodwork. Out of every corner and every crevice, they came. The team fired at every monster they could. Many were vaporized while they were still far away from their targets. Many more got much closer. Kirk realized that they wouldn't be able to keep this up forever. For a while, his surroundings were nothing but blurs of black beasts. Then he saw it – a door; an escape route.

"Fall back!" he cried out over the sound of ionized air. "Everybody get to the door!" He, Spock, and one of the Klingons fired in the same direction, removing enough of the unknown aliens to clear a path. Everyone continued to fire as they slowly made their way to their escape. As they did so, it was becoming clear the creatures were wising up to how powerful the team's weapons were, for fewer and fewer of the beasts were being struck while they were still on the other side of the room.

Finally, the inevitable happened. Black claws reached out and ripped through the thigh of one of the security officers – Lieutenant Stockman was his name. He fell to the ground just as the monster moved in for the kill. One of the Klingon warriors, knowing that the beast was to close for him to safely use his disrupter charged forward with his _d'k tahg_ in hand and ready to strike. But just before the warrior could bring the three-pronged dagger down on his opponent, the beast turned around and sent its claws through the flesh of his arm, causing him to drop the blade. Before the soldier could fight back in any way, the monster used its superior height and strength to lift him entirely off the ground. The beast held him so high that his face was mere inches from its fang-filled maw. Its jaws spread wide, revealing another row of teeth, ready to strike like a cobra. "Not today, demon," the young Klingon said as he lifted up his disrupter with one good hand and fired. His dark foe disappeared in a flash of light. As for the Klingon, himself, no one stands that close to something being vaporized without being scorched as well. He fell to the ground. He did not get up.

McCoy and another Klingon used the opportunity to grab the wounded Lieutenant Stockman and drag him alongside the rest of the landing party. Finally, the group reached the door. It, like all 23rd century doors, opened automatically as they approached it. For that reason, Kirk and Kor remained in front of it, providing cover fire while everyone else ran through it. As soon as McCoy, Stockman, and the Klingon soldier made it through, the two starship captains retreated through. Kor pressed several buttons on the wall next to the door, activating the override. That way, the door began to close even though more creatures were trying to follow them. One of the beasts almost made it through, but Kirk fired at it before it could jam the door.

When the door did close, the room became strangely quiet. Kor adjusted the setting on his disrupter and began to use it to weld the door shut, but even as he did that he said, "I doubt that this will hold them off for long."

Captain Kirk took a deep breath, looked around, and evaluated the current situation. Kor had just finished sealing the door, Dr. McCoy was treating Stockman's leg, Spock was reviewing the data he had collected earlier, and everyone else was on guard. They could hear the creatures banging on the door and the walls, trying to find a point of entry. Kirk took another deep breath. They could not keep this up much longer. He turned to Kor. "Do you know where we are?"

"I think so," he said.

"How far are we from the living quarters?" Kirk asked.

"We shouldn't be that far. I think that if we act quickly, we might be able to reach it before any of those things get through this wall."

"Then what are we standing around for," McCoy exclaimed as he finished doing all he could for Stockman, "let's get going!"

T

Kor had been right; the journey to the living quarters had been quick and peaceful. Somehow, Kirk knew that this peace would not last. Everyone readied themselves before they entered the common area, for Spock could still not detect any life forms with his tricorder. For all they knew, there could have been more of those black beasts on the other side. Luckily, the only sound that greeted the landing party when they opened up the door was, "Thank Kahless!"

Upon entering the room, Kirk saw about 25 Klingons all huddled together in a defensive position. Everyone that could carry a weapon was standing around and protecting those that could not. They looked like they had gone through Hell and back. At seeing this horrible sight, the away team burst into action. McCoy was already checking for injuries.

"I am Commander Kor, in command of the I.K.S _Klothos_," the Klingon captain called out, "and this is Captain James Kirk. We are here to rescue you." Upon hearing this, the expression on all of the survivors' faces changed completely. They looked like they were about to cheer.

One of the warriors, who identified himself as Gorvar, approached Kor, showing that he was in charge. Kor looked around the room before speaking to Gorvar. It was easy to see the shock in his eyes. "Are these _all_ of the survivors?"

Gorvar answered with only one word, "Yes."

Kor paused for several moments before asking, "What happened here? What are those things?"

Gorvar took a deep breath before starting, "A few days ago, an object fell from the sky. It was a ring-like object with strange symbols on it. It was clearly artificial, but we had no idea where it came from. We thought that it could be something that would be very important to the empire, but we decided to try to figure out what it actually was before we contacted anyone. That was a mistake."

It was at this point that it clearly became difficult for him to continue. "One day, the device activated. It created some sort of portal – where the other side was, I have no idea. Those creatures came through the portal. At first there were only a few. We thought that we could handle them. But every day the device would activate and more and more of them would come through. Finally, something else came through. It was like the others but bigger, and it had a huge crest on its head. It was almost like it had a crown. Not long after it appeared, it started laying eggs."

"So it was reproducing?" McCoy asked, "Without a mate? Most animals this advanced use some sort of sexual reproduction. They need to in order to promote genetic diversity."

"No," Gorvar said, "it was nothing like that. It was far more horrible. These spider-like creatures came from the eggs. They latched themselves onto the faces of some of my men. We tried to get a creature off one of their victims – he didn't make it. A few hours later, the spiders simply fell of my men and died. We thought that everything was okay, but, but…"

Kirk spoke up, "I realize that this is difficult, but we need to know what happened.

"Yes," Kor said, "please continue."

"A few hours after the spiders died, serpents – juvenile versions of the black beasts – ripped themselves out of the chests of the infected."

Kirk was stunned as was everyone else (well, maybe not Spock). He had seen a lot of strange things in his career in Starfleet, but never anything like this. The more he learned about these truly alien beasts, the more they seemed like some sort of mythical creature that dwelled in the depths of the Underworld. Not even Redjac caused as much death and destruction as these things, and he fed on fear.

His train of thought was interrupted when he heard Spock say, "Dr. McCoy, may I see your scans of the life forms?"

"Uhhh, sure," a very confused McCoy said as he handed over his tricorder to the Vulcan first officer.

Spock used the tricorder to reexamine the unknown aliens' DNA, specifically the carbon-based segments. "Just as I expected," he said to no one in particular, "this specimen definitely had Klingon DNA," he then changed the tricorder to show the DNA from a different specimen that was scanned, "but this one is completely unknown, but definitely humanoid."

"It sounds like you have a theory, Spock," Kirk said, "and I, for one, would really like to hear it." Everyone, including the Klingons, had started to take notice. Soon, they were all listening intently, hoping to finally get some answers.

Spock began, "I believe that we are dealing with a species that utilizes several biological adaptations very different from our own. Many of these adaptations are actually found in animals native to Earth, Vulcan, and Qo'noS. The major difference is that most of these animals have only one of said adaptations, while these unknown aliens have all of them. In fact, the only truly unique characteristic is the acid blood, which I have never seen in another organism."

"While this is all very interesting," Kor said sarcastically, "what does it all mean?" Several of the Klingons murmured in agreement.

"What I mean is that these aliens have much in common with the order of Earth insects known as Hymenoptera which includes bees, ants, and wasps. To be more specific, I believe that we are dealing a hive species of parasitoids."

Upon seeing that only a few people understood what he meant, Spock elaborated, "Hive creatures, such as ants and bees, live in large communities where only one individual, the Queen, reproduces. I am fairly certain that the large alien that Gorvar mentioned is the queen of this hive. The Queen most likely controls the rest of the hive through a combination of sounds, scents, and possibly a simple form of telepathy."

"Telepathy?" Kirk asked.

"Yes," Spock said. "As Dr. McCoy and I discovered, the aliens have a section of the brain that seems to be designed for telepathic abilities, but seemed undeveloped. That suggests that while the creature cannot send telepathic signals, it may be adept at receiving them."

Kirk realized what Spock was talking about, "and you believe that the Queen is sending those signals."

"Yes," Spock said again. "As for what a parasitoid is, it is very similar to a parasite with one major difference. While a parasite weakens and harms the host organism, it does no permanent damage. A parasitoid eventually kills its host. Several species of earth wasps are parasitoids. The female will capture another insect and lay her eggs directly into the insect. After a while, the eggs hatch, and the larva eat their way out."

"But why do some of them have Klingon DNA?" Sulu asked.

Spock answered, "I theorize that a section of the aliens' genetic code is, in a sense, blank or missing. I believe that it uses some of the DNA of the host to fill in the blank spaces."

"But why?" one of the Klingons asked.

"I can deduce only two possible reasons for this. First, Gorvar's description of the Queen seems to suggest that it lays the eggs without being fertilized by a drone. The aliens may not even have any genders or sexual reproduction at all. If that is the case, the species would need to find some other way to protect the entire population from disease through genetic diversity. Taking DNA from a host could accomplish this. There is, however, another possibility. It is possible that we are being attacked by a species that is designed to survive in any environment."

Kirk was not sure what to make of this, but he did not like where it was going. What did Spock mean by 'any environment?' All he could do was wait and hope that it was not as bad as it sound. Well, he could wait; McCoy could not.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" he shouted.

Not surprisingly, Spock remained calm despite McCoy's outburst. "Dr. McCoy, was it not you that determined that these life forms have germanium-based DNA."

Now McCoy was even more confused. "Yes I did, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"As most of you know," Spock said, "we are all carbon-based life forms. Carbon is good as a genetic base because of its four valence electrons, which allows it to form long chains of molecules. But carbon is not the only element with four valence electrons. Silicon and germanium also have this quality, but they are also both larger and heavier. For this reason, silicon does not form long chains as easily as carbon. It requires extreme heat and pressure. That is why species like the Horta and the Tholians, which are both silicon-based, live on extremely volcanic planets. Considering how difficult it is for silicon to form a genetic code, imagine what sort of environment it would take to produce germanium-based genes. I do not believe that our classification system for planets has a letter for such a world, _yet_ the aliens are surviving in our environment. We even saw one of them eating an animal that was no doubt carbon-based. Most life forms only eat something that is plentiful in their own base element: we eat carbon-based life, and the Horta eats silicon-containing rock. Yet this alien was eating something with almost no germanium, if any at all. These creatures are not just surviving in an environment that could not birth them, they are thriving."

"So the creatures are assimilating DNA from their hosts so that they live in the same environment?" Sulu asked.

"Yes," Spock said, "that is my theory."

"That's all well and good," McCoy said in such a way that let everyone know he was in an argumentative mood, "but what good is that to us?"

"Know your enemy," Kirk and Kor said simultaneously, which surprised both captains.

After he got over his surprise, Kirk went back into Captain mode. "Now that we have all of the survivors, I suggest we transport these people out of here, and then we can figure out what to do next."

Kor nodded his head and said, "Agreed."

Kirk took a quick look around the room to make sure that everything was in order before flipping open his communicator. "Kirk to Enterprise." He waited for a response, but all he got was static. "I repeat, Kirk to Enterprise. Come in Enterprise. We've found the survivors, and we need to be beamed out." Still, there was only static. "Spock, we could have a problem."

Everyone gathered around Kirk as he said those words. It did not sound well. "Captain Kirk," Lieutenant Stockman, who was resting his wounded leg, said, "I thought that the scrambling field only kept us from detecting life signs. There was no problem when we first beamed in."

Spock chose to answer before Kirk had a chance to. "Yes, it would appear that the field has gotten stronger." He turned to Captain Kirk before continuing. "Jim, we have to find the source of the field and deactivate it. Even when the field was weak, I calculated that we would need to actually contact the ship in order for them to get a strong enough signal to transport us."

"Yes Spock," Kirk said, "that much is clear. The real question is, 'where is this device?'."

"Now that you mention it," Gorvar said, "I think that some sort of device did come through the ring. There is a problem, however. The storage hold, where we placed the ring, is exactly where the aliens have established their hive. That is where the Queen is. Getting there may not be possible."

"Captain!" Spock shouted in such a way to let Kirk know that he needed to be heard right away, "Since I have been having trouble detecting the aliens' life signs from a distance, I have adjusted the tricorder to sense for movement." He paused for just a moment before saying, "A large group is heading this way. They will be on top of us at any moment."

One of the young children that sat among the survivors cried out in horror at hearing this. His mother tried to comfort him, but it did little to help. Seeing that the survivors were quickly beginning to panic, Kor took command. "Everyone, we cannot stay here any longer. My men and I, along with Captain Kirk and his men, are going to find the device that is preventing us from being beamed up, and then we are going to destroy it. You should all follow us. I realize that it may be dangerous for all of you to head towards the center of this 'hive,' but I doubt that there is any place here that is truly safe. For that reason, I feel that you would be safest with us." When he was certain that everyone understood, he turned to two of his soldier. "When we head out, you two will take the rear."

Captain Kirk instructed Sulu and the other security officer, Ensign Griffith, to also head towards the back. The rest of the two landing parties took up the front, with the civilians in the middle. They moved as fast as they could, doing everything they could to stay ahead of the aliens. Occasionally, Spock would detect one of them getting too close. Even though they would rarely ever be able to see, someone would fire in the creature's general direction, scaring it off, if only temporarily.

T

The journey to the storage was surprisingly quick, though that might have just been because of the speed that they moved. They had managed to hold off attacks from the rear, and nothing had approached them from the front, at least so far. When they finally reached the storage hold, however, everything changed. It was like stepping into a whole other world. The normally metallic walls were instead covered with… something else. It looked like someone had made a building out of the skin and flesh of the creatures. One of the Klingon warriors asked what this stuff was.

Spock once again used his tricorder and answered, "It would appear to be some sort of resin, most likely produced by the aliens themselves. I would surmise that this is how they build their hives."

"It isn't just resin," McCoy said as he too scanned the material, "I'm reading large amounts of germanium and polarized silicon. I think that the supports for these structures are made out of deceased aliens, and from some of these marks, I'd say that these creatures weren't dead when the others started using them for spare parts."

Kirk could not believe what he was hearing. "They build their hives by dismembering their still living members?" The more he learned about these aliens, the more they seemed like something that could only exist in ones nightmares, not in reality. He wanted to pursue the matter further, but he knew that they did not have the time, so he quieted down as they continued on.

It was not long before they came across a large group of oval objects with x-shaped slits in them. Gorvar warned them to stay away. "These are the eggs. Do not get to close."

"Why not?" McCoy asked.

"Because these eggs do not 'hatch,' they simply open up, and the spiders crawl out at astounding speeds. That is how they got many of the soldiers. And don't try killing the eggs either; it just makes the adults angry."

"That's just great," McCoy said sarcastically.

He was about to say something else, but he grew silent when he realized that they had reached their destination, and he saw… it.

It was as if they had journeyed through hell and now they stood before its queen sitting on top of her throne of bones. It looked exactly how one would expect the queen of these aliens to look. The main body was far larger than that of the drones and had an additional pair of arms. Behind her was an even larger egg sac that, even now, slowly laid more of those strange, vile eggs. On top of its head sat a crest that could be called a demonic crown. Its entire body was supported by the same structures that covered the walls, giving it the impression of sitting, as mentioned before, on a throne, like a queen should be.

Eventually, Kirk managed to turn his eyes away from the she-devil and examine the room. It did not take long before he saw the gate that brought it here. It was not only just a few meters away from the Queen, but it stood out like a sore thumb. It was just as Gorvar had described it. It was large, colored somewhere between bronze and gold, and covered in strange symbols. If Kirk didn't know better, he would say that some of them were Egyptian. Gorvar mentioned another noteworthy feature. Apparently, there was an inner ring that actually spun when the device activated. It was just big enough to fit something the size of the queen, but it was easily big enough to fit a large group of humanoids, suggesting that it was built by and for such humanoids. Perhaps these aliens were pawns of some other race, like a biological weapon.

Even though Kirk was examining the ring, most of the group could not take their eyes off the Queen. It did not take long for some of them to point out that it was not moving. "Is it dead, or is it just sleeping?" one of them asked.

"There's still a lot that I don't understand about these things," McCoy said as examined the Queen with his tricorder, "but I'm certain that it isn't dead. As for if it's sleeping, hell if I know."

"Well, I suggest we keep a few eyes on it anyway," Kirk said. "Spock and I will find the device keeping us here and try to shut it off. Everyone else with a weapon should probably watch either the 'Queen' or the exits."

Kor was about to say, "agreed," but one of the unarmed Klingons spoke up first. "Why don't we just kill it?"

Kor, who was clearly angry at being interrupted, turned to the man. "First of all, that thing is too big to vaporize with our disruptors, and I would really not like to see where the blood from the rest of it goes. Second, if destroying the eggs angers the demons, what do you think would happen if we destroyed their queen?" The unarmed Klingon shut up after that.

Kor was about to go back to guard the Queen, but he was distracted when he heard a quiet sound coming from one of the walls. It was not the hissing sound of the unknown aliens. It sounded more like a moan. It was too dark for him to see what it was, so he went over there to investigate. Gorvar decided to follow him. When they got close enough to see, they were horrified.

There was a Klingon soldier hanging from the wall by the same resin that covered everything else in this damned place. He looked like he had gone to _Gre'thor_ and back. He seemed to be in constant pain.

"By Kahless, what have they done to you?" Kor asked him.

The soldier coughed up a little bit of blood before managing to answer. "My name is Sergeant Kaylock. Captured. Taken here." He coughed some more. "Attacked by one of those things." He used the one hand that was free enough to move his fingers to point at one of the eggs. "I… don't want to end up like… like the others. I don't want to be de… denied access to Sto-vo-kor."

"I promise that you will not be denied this," Kor said as he unsheathed his _d'k tahg_. "I can see in your eyes that you have held on for a very long time. You have denied these demons victory over you. For that, I will make sure that you are remembered Sergeant Kaylock." With that, he plunged the knife into the officer's waist. There was a scream, not from the Klingon, but from the beast within. As Kor removed the blade, he realized that the tip had melted off. The creatures were deadly even before they were born.

"These creatures must be destroyed," Kor said.

"Yes, I know," Gorvar agreed.

When they were done with what little death rituals that they could do in a time like this, Kor approached Kirk and Spock. They were kneeling by a device the size of a small child. It was not far from the mysterious ring, so Kor assumed that it must have been the scrambler. "Please tell me that we will be able to get off this Kahless forsaken planet soon."

"I'm afraid I can't promise anything," Kirk said. "We're trying to deactivate it, but Spock and I are having trouble deciphering the language."

"Why don't we just destroy it?"

"I would advise against it," Spock answered. "Both this device and the ring appear to be powered by a form of highly reactive metal that I have never seen before. If we were to take it apart improperly or completely destroy it it could destroy this whole facility."

Kor did not respond; he simply groaned.

The situation remained the same for another ten minutes, which only worried Kirk more. "I don't like this Spock. If these things don't have eyes, then all of their other senses must be highly acute, including hearing. So how come the 'Queen' still hasn't noticed us?"

"I do not know Captain. The only explanation that I can deduce is that it has noticed us, but has chosen not to act."

"But why?" a very frustrated Kirk said. He looked throughout the room, hoping that it would reveal an answer. The rational part of his mind told him that this was unlikely, for most of the room was still covered in darkness. The rational part of his mind was wrong. For just a moment, it looked like the darkness was moving. "I've been so stupid"

"Captain?" Spock responded.

"The Queen, it's playing possum."

Spock was familiar enough with human culture to understand what that expression meant, so he moved on without pursuing it further. "So that we would not try to kill it?"

"No," Kirks said with horror in his voice, "while we've been working on this device, the other aliens have had all the time they need to completely surround us."

Kirk was already charging towards the rest of the group by the time Spock had a chance to respond. "Everyone get ready! I think we're going to have some company real soon!"

But it was already too late. The Queen stirred and let out a shrill cry. The purpose of the cry was clear: it was a battle cry. They came out the shadows like a black flood. The entire hive had to be there. That had to be the only explanation for the sheer size of the flood. For every one the survivors killed, two took its place. For every three the group killed, they lost one of their own. One of the colonists was disemboweled. Another was dragged into the darkness, screaming.

Kor vaporized one of the beasts, but was immediately tackled to the ground by another. Acting quickly, he unsheathed his partially melted _d'k tahg_ and prayed to Kahless that it was still sharp enough to pierce this demon's hide. He reached around and stabbed the demon in the back, just barely moving his hand away in time to avoid the spray of caustic blood. While the creature writhed in agony, Kor shoved it off. When he was far enough from the beast, he fired his disrupter at it, ending its life.

Captain Kirk soon found himself in a similar predicament. He turned his head to the side just in time to see one of the aliens heading for him. There was not enough time for him to turn his rifle, so he did the only thing he could. He struck the beast's face with the butt of his weapon. He had hoped that striking the beast with such force would be enough to knock it down. Instead, it was simply stunned for a second. Luckily, it was long enough for him to hit the demon again and again until its exoskeleton began to crack under the blows. Kirk now had the opportunity he needed to turn his phaser on the alien and fire.

Using what few seconds he had, Kirk checked the status of the battle. Unfortunately, it was quickly becoming less of a battle and more of a massacre. Despite their advanced weapons, the small group was hopelessly outnumbered by the seemingly endless wave of aliens, and the odds were getting worse every second. All the while, the Queen was screaming, commanding her brood through a cacophony of demonic sounds. They needed to get out of here quick.

"Spock!" Kirk yelled, "tell me your getting somewhere with that damned machine!"

If Spock had been human, he too might have been cursing at said damned machine. "I am sorry Captain. Nothing I do will cause it to accept my commands." It was at that point that Spock's tricorder went off. "Wait, something is happening."

Indeed, something was happening. It started with low metallic rumbling. Then, the mysterious gate's inner ring began to spin. It continued until stopping at one seemingly random point, at which point one of the mechanisms on the outer ring shifted then lit up. It continued to do this, oblivious to the battle before it, until seven lights had lit up. That was when something truly unexpected happened. From the inside of the ring came something that could only be described as a watery splash going sideways. After that, the 'water' settled into a shimmering, vertical pool.

Now that Spock had been given the chance to scan the gate while it was activated, he finally understood what it was. The device somehow created a stable wormhole, no doubt connected to a similar device somewhere else in the universe. The 'water' was the wormhole's event horizon. Unfortunately, from what he could tell, the gate was one-way. Anyone who tried to walk through it when it had been activated from the other side would never reach his destination. Even if that was not the case, it would not be advisable for the survivors to use it as an escape route without knowing where it went.

While he was scanning it, the already exceptionally high energy levels spiked once again. So high, in fact, that many of the gate's internal mechanisms began to overheat. Whatever was happening to the device now, Spock knew it was something that the gate was _not_ designed to do.

Smoke and sparks came from the gate, followed shortly by yet another 'splash.' When it had settled the crystal blue event horizon had become blood red. The entire machine looked like it was about ready to tear itself apart.

By this time, everyone, even the black aliens, had taken notice of the gate, and the battle had stopped, if only for a moment. Before that moment could pass, a black object flew through the gate before landing on the floor. Kirk saw that it was the severed head of one of the aliens. The head was followed by something entirely different.

It was humanoid. It was large, bigger than even a Klingon. Its face was covered with a fierce-looking helmet, but from the scales and clawed hands, it appeared to be reptilian. The back of the aliens head was covered with what appeared to be dreadlocks, though whether they were actually made of hair, or something else entirely, Kirk could not tell. There was no doubt it was dressed for battle. It carried armor the likes of which Kirk had never seen before, decked with weapons of every imaginable shape. Everything about the creature suggested a being that was prepared not just to fight a foe, but to hunt it down. It was a hunter. No it was more than a hunter.

It was a Predator.

T

The Universe, one of many

The TARDIS

Somewhere in time and space

There were few sounds Amy Pond enjoyed more than the rumbling of the TARDIS as it traveled through time. While it was far from any sound found in nature, it was just as soothing as a soft wind or a babbling brook, if not more so. It gave her a feeling of protection. Because of this, she was content to sit back and listen while the Doctor taught Rory how to operate the TARDIS.

She stifled a laugh when Rory asked what one particular button did for the third time. Amy was not surprised that Rory wanted to know everything he could about the Doctors incredible time machine. Rory had always been a little jealous of the larger-than-life Time Lord. She guessed that he was afraid that the Doctor was going to steal her away from him. Thankfully that jealousy had, for the most part, disappeared when she and Rory had gotten married (though not without going through some personal troubles and the near-end of the universe first). Now, they had made it through the storm, survived their honeymoon, and were back flying in the TARDIS. Everything was peaceful.

Not surprisingly, that peace did not last long.

Without warning, the TARDIS shook violently. Amy was thrown from her seat, and the other two hit the ground hard.

"Ooh, what happened," Amy said when her vision cleared and her head stopped pounding.

"It felt like we hit a wall," said the equally sore Rory.

By this time, the Doctor had already gotten up and started checking the TARDIS's various instruments. "That's because we did hit a wall," he said.

"How could we hit a wall if we're traveling through time?" Rory asked.

"We hit a time wall."

"I'm sorry Doctor," Amy responded, "but I don't think that either one of us know what a 'time wall' is."

"Well, technically, it's a spacetime wall. We just passed through the barriers that separate universes, but that shouldn't happen."

"Wait a second," Rory said while rubbing his temples to get rid of the headache he was quickly growing, "let me see if I've got this strait. We've entered into a whole other universe, even though the TARDIS shouldn't be able to do that."

"Oh, the TARDIS is quite capable of going through the barrier, but the last time this happened, it created a crack in the barrier that nearly destroyed both universes. But that's not happening this time. We left behind us a nice, neat tunnel that isn't damaging the universe around it. Back when the rest of the Time Lords were around, we could create tunnels like this one, but it took more than one TARDIS to do it. The TARDIS still has power, too. That didn't happen last time either"

"So what you're saying is that you have no idea what's going on," Amy said while wearing a face that said, "why am I not surprised?"

"No I don't, but I know how to find out."

"And how are you going to do that?" Rory asked.

"By seeing what's out there," the Doctor said as he opened up the TARDIS's doors. "Well, I wasn't expecting that."

Amy and Rory followed the Doctor to the door to see what he was talking about. They to, were surprised.

The TARDIS was out in space, circling an unknown planet, but between the TARDIS and the planet was a ship. It was a great silver-white ship that they all instantly recognized. Anyone from earth would have instantly recognized. It was so deeply ingrained in popular culture that anyone with a television set would have at least heard about it even if they did not know much about it. There was only one problem, as far they knew it was completely fictional. Yet there it was, sitting proudly in space, with its name emblazoned on its hull.

U.S.S. ENTERPRISE NCC-1701

**To be Continued**


	3. Chp 3: The Hidden Truth

**Part 1: The Gathering**

**Chapter 3: The Hidden Truth**

The Universe, one of many

The House of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully

August 17, 2010

There was one thing on Scully's mind as she sat in Mulder's home office, starring at his UFO poster which read, "I WANT TO BELIEVE." That thought was, _The more things change, the more they stay the same_.

Case in point, the words "I WANT TO BELIEVE" were one of the first things to greet her when she first walked into Mulder's FBI office all of those years ago. So many things had happened since then: she had become a believer in the supernatural (against her wishes), discovered many secret plots, begun a relationship with Mulder (finally, according to some of their friends), had a child, faced life with Mulder on the run, seen the closing of the X-files, defended Mulder in a trial for the truth, and finally seen him pardoned.

And now, after all of these years, here she was, sitting in the office that Mulder had set up in their home, starring at that same exact poster. In fact, this whole room looked a lot like his old office. This lead to yet another thought: _what does he have planned now_?

Luckily, her question would be answered soon enough, for Mulder had just walked into the room.

"Okay, I'll bite, what was so important that we had to go to your office to tell me?"

"We have a case," he replied as he held up a yellow folder full of papers.

Scully gave a brief sigh before saying, "We don't work for the FBI anymore." She also quickly added, "And the X-Files have been closed down."

Mulder smiled. "That doesn't stop unexplained things from happening, nor does it stop some of our allies occasionally getting assigned to such unexplained cases."

He handed her one of his papers, which she quickly began to read. "This is from Agent Doggett and Agent Reyes."

"Yes," he replied, "Agent Doggett contacted me last night. He reluctantly told me that their current assignment had them stumped and thought that it sounded like it was right up our alley."

"Okay, I'm listening."

As soon as she had answered him, he turned on the slide projector, which caused Scully to sigh once again. She had forgotten how many cases began with him showing her slides in his office.

"At approximately 2:30, last Tuesday, the body of one John Doe was found in the woods near Baltimore, Maryland. The preliminary autopsy came to the conclusion that he had been dead for three days. His chest had been ripped open and several internal organs removed," Mulder said as he projected images of the grisly murder on a dry erase board. Scully remained silent as he continued. "In addition, rope-like contusions were found around his neck as well as eight small indentations made on the back side of the head. These are believed to have been made a few hours before death."

"Was the chest wound the cause of death, or was that done post-mortem?" Scully asked.

"No, it was definitely what killed him."

"I don't get it Mulder, this all seems very strange, but it hardly feels paranormal."

"Take another look at the wound," Mulder replied as he shifted the projection back to the grotesque opening in the man's chest.

At first, Scully could not figure what Mulder wanted her to see. All of a sudden, it hit her, but before she could voice her discovery, Mulder beat her to it. "The ribcage is bent outward, not inward," he said. "Whatever did this to him ripped him open from the inside out. Furthermore, what little was left of his organs suggested that removal actually began before he died, and that they had been removed not with a known instrument, but with something that more closely resembled teeth."

"Are you suggesting that he was eaten from the inside out," Scully said while managing to keep her cool, allowing only the slightest amount of shock and disgust to escape into her voice.

"That would appear to be the case," he said.

"To be honest, Mulder, this is all sounding like the plot of the movie _Alien_."

"That's just it, Sully. It sounds exactly like it." Before Scully could question what he meant by that, Mulder changed the slide to show a picture of the victim's face, including the markings on his head and neck. Mulder quickly pulled out a dry erase marker and began to draw an image on the screen. When he was done, the man's face had been covered by a crude image of a 'face-hugger.' While the drawing may have been crude, its proportions were the same as the creature from the movie. Furthermore, it matched the victim's markings perfectly.

Even after all of these years of seeing things she could not explain, Scully was not quite ready to leap to a conclusion as bold as 'killed by a movie monster.' So, she decided she wanted a little bit more clarification. "Okay Mulder, what's your theory?" she asked, figuring that he no doubt already had one.

"Do you remember the case we had back in the February of 2000? We were chasing what I at first thought was a lycanthrope. As the night went on, however, I came to believe that we were facing an unknown entity that fed on fear and did so by appearing as its target's worst fear."

"Yes, I remember," Scully said while giving yet another sigh. "The whole thing ended up on an episode of _Cops_. We embarrassed the entire FBI, Mulder."

"I don't see why," Mulder replied. "The department forwarded to me several letters from viewers who were convinced that we were really after something paranormal. If anything, it should have helped validate the X-Files. Whatever the case, I believe we could be dealing with something similar. There's only one problem."

Scully had already figured out what that problem was. "The time of death was nowhere near the night of the last full moon, which was when your 'fear entity' apparently only came out."

"Exactly," Mulder said grudgingly.

After that, Scully began to rise from her chair. "Well, I guess that there's only one way to find out."

A surprised look appeared on Mulder's face. "You mean I don't need to talk you into going?"

Scully answered by saying, "It's not like I can talk you into not going, so I might as well save us both some time."

Mulder's surprised look transformed into a big smile. "I knew you would see it my way."

Now they were done, Mulder began to turn everything off, including the slide projector. Before he did, however, Scully took one last good look at the image of the victim. He had been a young man (perhaps late twenties) with somewhat lengthy, disheveled hair. Other than that, the only distinguishing feature was his odd choice in clothing. He wore two articles of clothing normally found on much older men: suspenders and a bowtie. As Mulder turned the projector off, and the image disappeared, Scully could not help but feel like she had seen that face before. It was not the feeling of someone she knew personally. It felt more like the face of someone she had seen on T.V.

For some reason she could not explain, that feeling caused a chill to run down her spine.

T

Baltimore, Maryland

A few hours later

The thing about reunions is that they work best when one has a lot of time on his hands. For instance, this was the first time that Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, John Doggett, and Monica Reyes had all been together since Mulder had become a fugitive back in 2002. They would have preferred to have a chance to sit down, catch up on what the others had done over the past few years, reminisce about the past, and participate in other such conversations. But there was no time for that. Doggett and Reyes had been on the job, and now Mulder and Scully were as well. So, for the time being, smiles, 'good to see you's, and friendly handshakes would have to do. It was not long before they chose to split up: Agent Reyes took Scully to examine the body while Doggett and Mulder went to the scene of the crime.

Perhaps 'scene of the crime' was a poor choice of words, however, for when Mulder got there, he instantly noticed something that Doggett's report had already told him: there was not a single drop of blood anywhere. Even the ground on which the body had laid did not have a trace. To all those who had seen a murder before, this fact screamed out one thing.

"Our victim didn't die here," Mulder said.

"That would appear to be the case," Doggett agreed, ending his sentence with a small sigh.

"Something from your voice tells me that this only makes the case even more complicated."

Doggett watched Mulder bend down to more closely examine the crime scene before saying, "Yes it does. The earliest tracks found belonged to the hiker who found the body. All the other footprints belong to the people who have been here since. It's as if he fell from the sky." Doggett gave himself a moment to look down at Mulder, then up at the treetops above him, then back to Mulder before saying, "This isn't the point where you tell me he fell from the sky, is it?"

"I haven't ruled that possibility out," Mulder said as he continued to examine the ground, which was getting him nowhere. There was a slight indentation in the ground which was roughly human shape. Other than that, the only other suggestion a crime had ever taken place here were the police barriers set up around the area. It really did seem like the victim had simply fallen from the sky.

Once Mulder had given up and stood back up, Doggett switched to another topic. "I got a chance to read the case file about that 'fear entity' you thought might be involved. If I understand your theory correctly, then you believe that our victim was afraid of Xenomorphs, so–"

"A Xena-what," a confused Mulder interrupted.

"A Xenomorph," Doggett explained. "When I first heard you talk about the _Alien_ movies, I decided to check the web to learn a little more about them. Apparently, in the first sequel, one of the characters refers to the aliens as Xenomorphs. Fans of the movies quickly latched on to that name and starting calling the aliens that to distinguish them from every other alien movie monster. Frankly, I can see why. Apparently, there are a ton of monster movies with aliens in them." When Doggett saw that Mulder understood, he continued. "As I was saying, so you believe that our victim was afraid of Xenomorphs, so the entity changed into one and killed him?"

"Basically, though it's quite possible that it wasn't the Xenomorph itself that terrified him, but rather that whole chest-bursting part."

Agent Doggett nodded slowly. "After all I've seen, I guess that does make some since, but let me ask you this: what if you're wrong."

Before Mulder answered, he noticed something he hadn't noticed before. The entire place was quite, deathly quiet. No birds were chirping, no small rodents were scurrying, and no bugs were buzzing. Just like Scully before him, Mulder felt a chill run down his spine. That chill only reaffirmed what he was already going to say. "Then we could be in serious trouble."

As Mulder and Doggett left the area, neither one realized that there was a good reason for the silence and lack of wildlife. _It_ had scared them all away. Now it waited, hanging from the trees and hugging the darkness like it was a warm blanket on a cold night. It was a dark thing that would have scared away any man or beast who realized it was there. It wanted to hunt, kill, destroy, and do anything else to give the Hive a foothold in this world, but the voice of its master held it back.

"_Yes, he's the one. He's the one I want_," the voice said. "_Don't do anything yet. If he leaves, follow him. I want to see how much he can figure out by himself. Wait until I give the signal, then attack. I want him brought to me alive. If there's anyone else with him, kill them_."

The black beast was intelligent, but not sentient. Most of what its master said held no meaning to it, but it got the basics: wait, follow, attack when signaled, don't kill the important one. So, as Fox Mulder and John Doggett headed back to the city morgue, where their companions were, the beast did exactly as it was told: it followed.

The voice of its master was not quite yet. It had one more thing to say. The fact that the beast neither understood nor cared did not matter. The master spoke because he could. He gave a most miniscule chuckle before saying, "_It's quite funny. Before you kill them, they will probably assume that it was you that was spawned from their 'victim'_."

He laughed once more. "_Humans can be such fools_."

T

There was something wrong with this corpse. Scully could not put her finger on what was off, but she knew there was something wrong. Nothing stood out, as the saying goes, like a sore thumb. It was just a vague feeling. For instance, the rate of decomposition was unusually slow for a week-old body, three days of which had been spent in the woods. It was unusually slow, but not unnaturally slow. Still, something bothered her. She had been examining the body for quite some time now, and she was starting to get frustrated. At first, Agent Reyes had been watching her and waiting to see if she could help, but as time went on and she continued to get nowhere, Scully began to feel that she was wasting Reyes' time. Eventually, Scully convinced her to see if she could find anything on the identity of this John Doe, leaving Scully alone with the corpse.

Scully let out one long sigh. She was starting to feel like giving up. She once more looked down at the surgically opened chest of the victim, still unsure what was bugging her. The man's insides were a bloody mess. Many of the organs had been removed completely. Others had been torn up beyond recognition. It was a wonder she could recognize any structure at all. Still, she was determined to find out what was wrong with this corpse.

It was a few more minutes before something caught her eye. She wasn't surprised she had not seen it before. It would be easy to miss something in this gory chaos. She reached into the dead man's chest in a way that would no doubt have sickened anyone not trained to deal with this level of gore. What she found was a fully intact organ. Whatever had decimated this man's insides had missed it. It was completely whole. That, however, was not what startled her. What shocked Scully was that she did not recognize it. It was like no other organ she had seen before. This was not a human organ.

This man was not human.

T

The entire building was unusually quiet, even for a morgue. A few days ago, it had been bustling with police officers and other professionals. It was not surprising, they had just found a murder victim in the woods. But as time went on, and the investigation hit dead end after dead end, that enthusiasm waned. Eventually, the police chief told his men to get some rest. Most had done just that. What few remained were either on patrol, or back at the precinct, leaving the place much more quiet. Even most of the medical staff had left. After all, it was nearly midnight. With all of those people gone, all that was left was a nearly-deserted morgue. Even Fox Mulder had to admit that it was kind of creepy. Fortunately, he felt much better once he and Agent Doggett returned to the small office they had been temporarily given for this case and saw Agent Reyes' smiling face. Unfortunately, that slight feeling of elation disappeared as soon as Reyes' greeting brought him back to reality.

"So, how did your search go?" she asked.

Doggett gave her a look that quite clearly said it did not go well, and they would rather not talk about it. Reyes did not pursue the matter any further.

"How about on your end?" Doggett asked. "Did you find anything over here?"

"Scully is still examining the body," she responded, "but I think I may have found the identity of our victim." She then pointed to the computer screen that she had been working at when they had first walked into the room.

For the briefest moment, when Mulder heard those words, he felt the feeling of elation return, but it once again disappeared when Reyes added, "but you're not going to like what I found."

Doggett groaned. "Very well, who is it?"

Reyes brought up a picture on the computer of a man who matched their John Doe. "His name is Matt Smith. He's an English television actor. He matches our victim exactly. There's just one problem. This is the latest photo of him. It was taken two days ago – in London."

"But our guy has been dead for nearly a week," Doggett said, bewildered.

"I told you that you wouldn't like it."

"Even I have to admit that this is a very unusual situation," Mulder said as he pondered what he had just learned. "What about this Smith guy, what do we know about him?"

"Well," Reyes began as she turned back to the computer, "he stars as a character called the Doctor in the British T.V. show _Doctor Who_ –"

"Really?" Mulder interrupted. "I haven't seen Doctor Who since I was kid."

"Wait a minute," Doggett interjected. "How could this guy have been on a show that you watched as a kid?"

Mulder took a seat before answering. "It's been a little while, so I'm a little fuzzy. If I remember right, the show stared a character called the Doctor. He was an alien who travel through time and space." Mulder paused for a moment as he continued to recall his old memories. "His race, called the Time Lords, could regenerate when fatally wounded, but the regeneration never stopped at just the wound. It would completely change that person's appearance. The show's writers developed this ability to allow the show to continue when the man who originally played the Doctor wanted to leave. Think of it as like all the different people who have played James Bond, except we've been given an actual explanation of why he looks different and never seems to age. The show had the Doctor regenerate several times over the years, allowing it to go on for quite some time. In fact, I think it might be the longest running science fiction show in history."

"It is," Reyes, who was still at the computer, said. "It says here that it initially ran from 1963 to 1989 before being cancelled. There was one television movie in 1996, but otherwise was off the air until it was brought back in 2005. It's been on the air ever since."

Doggett frowned. "Unfortunately, none of this is helping us with our case. Perhaps if we learned more about the personal life of this Mr. Smith, we could –"

Before Agent Doggett could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the sound of Scully entering into the room. The three of them saw that she was carrying a large piece of paper with pencil drawings on it.

"Did you find something, Scully?" Mulder asked.

"I'm not sure what I found," she replied.

She laid her paper down on the desk in the center of the office. Doggett and Reyes, who were quite curious, moved to get a better look at the picture.

"Our victim's inside were so torn up, it was hard to tell anything for certain," Scully said, "but after a while, I began to notice some strange things. Eventually, I decided to try to reconstruct what his internal organs looked like." She pointed down at the picture, which looked like a seemingly random display of shapes contained within what was clearly the outline of a man's torso. "See anything wrong with this picture?"

They did. It was only natural. They did not have to be doctors to see it. Anyone who had ever gone to elementary school had, at minimum, a vague idea of what the insides of a man looked like. This was not it.

"That doesn't look human," Reyes said.

"That's because it isn't," Scully responded. "I know my reconstruction probably isn't perfect, but if I'm correct, then most of the organs that I recognize are the wrong size, the wrong shape, and in the wrong place. That doesn't even include the organs that I don't recognize. But perhaps strangest of all –"

"He has two hearts."

Scully, Doggett, and Reyes turned to see that Mulder had taken Reyes spot at the computer and was now checking the internet for more information on _Doctor Who_.

"Yes," a thoroughly shocked Scully said, "but how did you know that I was going to say that?"

"Because Scully, I think we have a dead Time Lord on our hands."

T

It did not take long for Scully to get caught up on what the others had learned. Now, she was pacing around the room. Every once in a while she would turn to Mulder, who seemed to be in deep contemplation, before going back to pacing.

"I've seen a lot of strange things Mulder," she said. "Some of them, I've actually started to believe. For others, I still think there's a reasonable explanation. I've seen aliens, mutants, shapeshifters, ghosts, vampires, werewolves – I've even seen a modern day Frankenstein and a monster to go with him – but I draw the line at the idea that the dead man on my operating table is a fictional character killed by an equally fictional monster. That just can't be possible, Mulder!"

When she didn't hear a response, she turned around to see that Mulder was still deep in thought. John Doggett and Monica Reyes had busied themselves with other things, most likely not wanting to get in the middle of an argument between the two former FBI agents. Scully just stood there, watching and waiting for Mulder to say something. Finally, he did just that.

"Monkeys on typewriters."

"I'm sorry," Scully said in utter confusion, "could you repeat that?" Doggett and Reyes were equally bewildered.

Mulder practically jumped from his seat. Now it was he who was pacing around the room. One could almost hear the gears grinding in his head as one thought after another fell into place. "Of course, of course!" he said.

"Mulder!" Scully practically shouted, "Would you mind filling us in on what you're talking about?"

Mulder stopped and looked at them as if he had only now realized they were there. "There is an old thought experiment that says if you had a room with an infinite number of monkeys typing on an infinite number of typewriters for an infinite amount of time, they would eventually produce the complete works of Shakespeare. Of course, there are a few variations on this idea, such as just one monkey, a complete library of books being typed, or even just the word _Hamlet_"

"I've heard of that theorem," Scully said. "Some have applied it to evolutionary theory, though, if I remember right, it goes back much further than that."

Agent Doggett had been silent for a while, but now chose to chime in. "I've heard of that to, but I fail to see what it has to do with our case."

Doggett's verbal invitation to further clarify his point seemed to only excite Mulder. "I'm talking about parallel universes, John. There are several theories out there about the possibility that we live in a multiverse of infinite parallel universes. According to some of those theories, whenever an event has multiple, equally probable outcomes, whether it's something as complex as the winner of a game of chess, or as simple as the direction a subatomic particle moves, a separate universe is created for each possible outcome.

Mulder paused for just the briefest moment, as if catching his breath, before continuing on. "Think of it: an infinite number of universes, each one different from the others. That means that any possible combinations of events could, and probably did, happen in one of these universes. There could be one where the only difference is that I chose a different tie this morning, or there could be one where the events of _Hamlet_ actually took place. Perhaps, there could even be one where –"

"Where an alien called the Doctor travels around in a time machine," Reyes interrupted.

"Exactly!" Mulder said. "If any fictional story we tell is physically possible, then it may have actually happened or will happen in at least one universe. Even if we try to restrict the possibilities by saying that it has to conform to the laws of physics that still doesn't necessarily disqualify a story. Some multiverse theories include the possibility of universes with physical laws different from our own. For all we know, there could be a universe out there where a giant roadrunner is continually hunted down by an intelligent coyote who doesn't fall until _after_ he's realized that he ran over a cliff!"

Mulder was practically giddy. His theory was so different, so out of the blue that he actually had trouble believing it himself. It was so unbelievable, that he looked to Scully for conformation, as if her agreeing with him would somehow validate it. He did not get his validation.

"That's insane, Mulder," she said.

While he did not convince Scully, Reyes was a different story. "Actually, his theory does make a little sense." She checked to see if Doggett had anything to say about, but he remained silent.

"Okay, Okay, I will admit that it makes some sense _in theory_," Scully responded, "but only if there are infinite universes out there, and that is a very big _if_. You also have to take into consideration that –"

It wanted to kill something

Every fiber of its being told it to prepare for the day a Queen might appear on this planet by taking the necessary number of victims and killing the rest. Instead, its master had told it to wait. So here it was, hidden in the ceiling, waiting for the call of its master. It had nothing to do but listen to the inferiors communicate in a language too complex to understand.

In time, however, the voice of the master did come. It knew that the master had entered into its thoughts even before the voice spoke. The voice chuckled once again. "_He figured it out. He actually figured it out without any help. I knew that he was the one. I knew it! Knew it, knew it, knew it!_"

The chuckle from earlier was replaced by full blown maniacal laughter before dropping back down into silence. "_You have been very good my patient soldier. You need not wait any longer. Take him; kill the rest._"

"– this could be something more mundane. After all, I have already mentioned that we have seen shapeshifters before."

If Scully was going to add any more theories, she never got the chance. She was interrupted by a loud noise coming from the ceiling. More noises came after that, prompting everyone to look up, even if they could not see anything out of the ordinary.

"What is that?" Doggett asked.

"I don't know," Mulder answered

The noise grew louder and louder. It eventually got to the point that Mulder, Doggett, and Reyes felt compelled to pull out their guns and aim them at the ceiling. Only Scully, having just come back from the autopsy, did not have one on her. All four of them moved closer the door, just in case they needed a quick exit.

When it seemed as if the noise, which had quickly grown into noises, could not get any louder, the ceiling caved in. Not all of; just enough to let a black shape fall through and land on the desk.

They all recognized it. Of all the horrible monsters to ever 'grace' the silver screen, it was one of the most recognizable. It had become a part of pop culture. It was a symbol for all the terror that the void of space might hold. Yet no amount of costuming or makeup could compare to the real thing. It moved in strange ways that no man in a suit could copy. Using computers to modify the sounds of earth animals might create a sound similar to the hissing that it made, but they could never match it exactly. No special effects could ever capture how unearthly a true Xenomorph was.

Every fiber of his being told Mulder to shoot it, but he resisted. He knew what would happen if he shot it from this close. Doggett and Reyes also seemed to know not to shoot.

"Mulder," Scully said, "I think I believe you."

Mulder did not respond. He barely even registered that she had even spoken. His entire mind was consumed by trying to figure out a good escape route. He had to work fast, for every second he waited, the alien inched closer and closer. Finally, he ran out of ideas and said the only thing he could.

"Run!"

Mulder fired his gun. He aimed at the alien's feet, hoping to hold it off for just a second. Surprisingly, it did work. The beast backed off long enough for Scully, Reyes, and Doggett to run out of the office. Mulder managed to get to the exit just as the Xenomorph lunged at him. He slammed the door on the beast. The door managed to stop it, but only just barely. Mulder was still pushed back, and some of the hinges came off the door.

Mulder used what few seconds he had to catch up with the others. They were running down the hallway with Agent Doggett in the lead. Mulder really hoped that he knew where he was going. Mulder looked back to see the Xenomorph breaking the door down.

Now that there was some space between them and the beast, Reyes turned and fired. If she managed to hit it, it did not show any reaction. She gave up when she realized that she was falling behind the others. She took one last look behind her as she ran. "It's catching up!" she screamed.

"We have to do something, Mulder!" Scully shouted.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!"

The group came upon a split in the hallway, one way going straight, the other turning left. Doggett was about to go straight, but the beast leapt over them, directly into their path. "This way!" Scully shouted and turned down the other corridor. The others followed just in time to avoid a clawed swipe from the beast.

Unfortunately for all of them, the hallway soon came to an end. The only place they could go was one of the offices at the end. They were trapped. The only thing they could do was to run into one of the rooms (which they did) and try to barricade it. Mulder was about to close the door behind him, but the beast slammed into it. The alien struck it hard. The metal door was actually bent by the blow. It almost caused Mulder to lose his footing and let the creature in, but he managed to hold on. As much as he tried, however, he could not get the door to close all of the way. The alien just kept pushing back. It even managed to slip its hand through the crack, which it swung with reckless abandon, looking for someone to disembowel. Luckily for Mulder, Doggett soon put his own weight into holding the door closed. Even then, it did not seem like they could hold it much longer. All the while, more dents continued to appear. Even if they could keep the door closed, the door itself might not hold.

The Xenomorph slammed into the door again. This caused Doggett to give a small grunt before saying, "Someone, find something to hold this door with." He had no need to say it out loud. Scully and Reyes were already starting to move the office's desk.

"That's not going to hold it for very long," Mulder whispered to Doggett. He planned to add another sentence, but he was distracted by the black claw that nearly took his head off.

Doggett also had to avoid the creature's claw. He was starting to get angry. The frustration from the case, the fear of the creature, and the adrenalin from the chase were all coming together to get his blood boiling. It was for that reason that he shouted as loud as he could, "If only we could just shoot it without killing ourselves." It was at that point that Agent John Doggett had what could only be described as a minor epiphany.

"I have an idea," he said. He turned to Scully and Reyes. "Help Mulder keep the door closed." He took his weight off the door just as the two women started putting pressure alongside Mulder. Doggett knew that he had to work quickly; the three of them would not be able to hold it forever. He quickly took his jacket off, followed by taking his gun back out. He held up the gun with his right hand, and with his left he tightly wrapped the jacket around both the gun and his arm, making sure that only the tip of the barrel was exposed.

He gave the group a weak smile and said, "Here goes nothing." With that, he stuck his hand through door (making sure to protect the rest of his body) and fired. The beast released a blood-curtailing scream. Doggett kept firing. He continued to pull the trigger until the gun stopped firing. He was not sure whether the clip had run out or if the gun had been damaged. He did not really care. He pulled his arm back into the office and saw that his jacket was almost completely eaten through by acid. With both speed and care, he managed to take it off without hurting himself. He also dropped his gun; it no longer had a barrel.

As this happened, the alien continued to scream and screech and pound on the door. At first, the beast actually seemed to become more vigorous, attacking the door with even more ferocity. Eventually, the cries became weaker and less frequent. The pounding stopped. It happened just in time, for the creature's blood had just now eaten all the way through the door. Mulder and the others had moved away just in time. Between the blood and the beating, the door finally just collapsed upon itself, revealing the beast. It was still alive, though only just barely. It twitched and squirmed for a few more seconds before expiring. Its yellow-green blood continued to flow, creating a hole in the floor into which the beast slowly sank.

Now that they were out of danger, Mulder quickly realized how hard he was breathing. He had really let that thing get to him. He sat down on the desk and let himself catch his breath. The others soon followed his example.

"Did that… really just happen?" Scully asked between breaths.

"I think so," Reyes replied. She took a moment to catch her breath before adding, "So where does that leave our case."

"Well," Mulder said, "We now know the cause of death, but we have no idea how either of our two aliens got to this universe."

Mulder stayed silent after that. He was once again in deep contemplation. Perhaps he had missed something. It was at that point that something strange happened. Everything started to get fuzzy. Mulder was not breathing that hard, so he could not be passing out. Furthermore, everything was going white, not black. It was as if a faint glow was coming from all around them. He looked to Scully and the others. It took only a second to realize that they saw it to.

"What happening?" Scully shouted.

"I don't know," Mulder replied, "Maybe –"

Whatever he was about to say was lost when the faint glow became a blinding light. The next thing he knew, he was falling on the floor – a concrete floor. The floor he had been on was tiled. He looked around him. His vision was blurred. He could see his friends, but everything else was too far away to see clearly. He rubbed his temples. They were in a potentially dangerous situation. He had to think clearly, and he had to do it now.

_Okay_, he thought, _we've been transported to some unknown location. It felt like only a few seconds, but I don't have any way to confirm that. Every time I've experienced movement across space or time due to UFOs, it has almost always been accompanied by a blinding light, but they also included the feeling that I was being moved from place to place. I didn't feel that here. If anything, it felt more like everything else was changing around me. My vision's starting to clear. I've got to find out where we are_.

That was when he noticed they were surrounded. They were surrounded by soldiers – soldiers that were pointing guns at them. Their uniforms looked like ones that the U.S. military might wear, but they did not match the Army, Navy, or any of the known branches of the military. He also just noticed that there was an alarm blaring out of the speakers. Wherever they had been transported, it certainly was not a place that they were supposed to be.

It was all so terribly confusing. Luckily for Mulder, he saw something behind the soldiers to the left of him that made it all make sense. They must have been transported to another universe. That was the only explanation. For, in his universe, what he saw was just as fictional as Time Lords and Xenomorphs. He had seen it on Television.

It was a Stargate.

T

The Universe, one of many

Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain Complex

September 14, 2008

There were times that Major General Jack O'Neill missed being part of the SGC. Those times were, in fact, all of the time. He had never really been a desk man, and his job as the head of the Department of Homeworld Security kept him away from the Stargate. Still, this was his job now, and he planned to do it to the best of his abilities. Nonetheless, whenever an opportunity to return to Cheyenne Mountain presented itself, he would take it. He had been there to help Marty with his movie, he had helped rescue Daniel from the Ori, and had been there when Ba'al finally kicked the bucket. Now he was presented with yet another opportunity he could not pass up. It was not every day that Famous T.V. characters appeared in a flash of light right in front of the Stargate.

As he entered the complex, he was greeted by Major General Hank Landry and Colonel Cam Mitchell.

"You're late," Landry said with a smile on his face while shaking Jack's hand.

Jack then shook hands with Cam, who said, "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show, General."

Jack smiled. "First of all, I wouldn't miss this for just about anything. Second, you're a member of SG-1 now, you can call me Jack. Have I said that before? I feel like I've said that before."

"I don't remember you ever saying that Gen… Jack," Cam replied.

"Well I'm saying it now. Now, let's get going. I'm in a hurry, and I would like as many people there as possible to help me translate Carter's explanation."

T

"To be honest, I don't even begin to have an explanation," Colonel Sam Carter said.

"I was not expecting that," Cam whispered to Jack.

"Neither was I," Jack whispered back.

Jack, Cam, and Landry had only recently arrived in Sam's lab. Sam, Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, Vala Mal Doran, and Doctor Carolyn Lam were already there and discussing what they knew about their 'guests'. So far, it did not look like they knew much.

"All four of them are completely human," Doctor Lam said, expanding on Sam's statement. "I've checked for every way of disguising one's identity that we know. If they are some sort of shapeshifters or who-knows-what, then their disguise is perfect and unlike anything I have seen before."

"I know that I've been on this planet for a while now," Vala interrupted, "but I'm afraid I still don't know who these people are supposed to be, or why it isn't possible for them to be who they say they are."

Cam was the first to answer her. "Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, John Doggett, and Monica Reyes are all characters from a T.V. show called the _X-Files_. It's about a few FBI agents who try to expose a secret government conspiracy involving aliens; kind of like the secret government conspiracy we have here, only more evil."

"I have found the show to be quite enjoyable," Teal'c stated matter-of-factly.

Now that she had a better understanding of what the others were talking about, Vala quickly tried to find some way to get deeper into the conversation. "Maybe someone kidnapped the actors and brainwashed them into thinking that they really were these X-Files-people."

"Nope," Cam replied, "We've already checked the locations of all of the former cast members. They are all accounted for, and none of them are anywhere near here."

Vala pouted slightly when her idea was put down so quickly. She put her chin in her hand, lost in thought and most likely trying to come up with another theory.

"Okay, so we've all heard what we think and don't think they are," Daniel said, "but what I really want to know is who they say they are."

"Well," Sam responded, "we haven't done a full interrogation yet, but 'Agent Mulder' did answer a few questions. He claims that he and the others were somehow transported here from another universe."

"That isn't so unusual," Jack said. "We've dealt with universe-hopping before."

"But we never saw any universes with T.V. characters in them," Daniel countered

"Good point."

Sam took a moment to grab two papers from her desk that she had printed out earlier. "Wait, it gets weirder. He also mentioned that a few 'universe-hoppers' had come to his home as well." She held up the papers, showing them two pictures – one with the monster from the movie _Alien_, the other showing a young man in a bow tie.

Vala cringed when she saw the picture of the monster. "I hated that movie. I'd rather have another Goa'uld in my head than one of those things in my stomach."

"Who's the guy in the bow tie?" Cam asked.

Sam looked at the second picture more closely. "He's the main character from a British science fiction show. I believe it's called _Doctor Who_."

Jack pondered this. "That sounds familiar. I think I may have heard of it before." Jack thought about it for a moment. When he couldn't think of anything, he shot up from his chair. "Well I've spent enough time just sitting here. I want to talk to this guy myself."

"I shall accompany you, General O'Neil," Teal'c said.

"Let's face it," Daniel added, "I think will all be joining you."

"All but one," Dr. Lam said. "SG-2 should be back soon, and I've gotten word that there might be some injuries."

"Make that two, I'm afraid," General Landry also added. "I also have some business to take care of. Area 51 is having some trouble with its storage facilities, and they have asked us to hold some of its inventory temporarily. I've got to make sure that no one misplaces anything. Dismissed!" At the last minute he also decided to say, "And good luck!"

As they left, Cam came up to Jack and said, "I couldn't help but notice that Teal'c always seems to call you General O'Neil. I thought anyone in SG-1 could call you Jack."

Jack smiled. He looked at Teal'c before saying, "Don't you think that I've already told him that?"

T

'Fox Mulder' sat quietly. The guards had just brought him in, and he now sat at a table in the interrogation room, opposite of Jack O'Neil, with SG-1 standing behind the general. So far, he had not put up too much trouble for the guards. From what Jack had seen on television, this did not sound very much like Agent Mulder. _Then again_, he thought, _he might just be biding his time and thinking of a plan to get out of here. Now that sounds like Fox Mulder_.

"Do you know what I think, 'Agent Mulder'?" he said. "I think it's like that one movie, _Galaxy Quest_. Have you seen that one? In it, a bunch of shapeshifting aliens think that this _Star Trek_-like T.V. show is real, so they ask the actors from the show to help them defeat the bad guy. I think that you thought you could just waltz in here because everyone knows who Mulder is."

"Excuse me?" Mulder responded.

"I hate to break this to you," O'Neil continued, "but the _X-Files_ isn't real. It's a T.V. show."

At first, Mulder's face seemed to show an emotion somewhere between surprise and confusion. However, he soon started smiling and actually began to laugh. "Of course," he said to no one in particular. "Why didn't I think of it sooner? It goes both ways."

"Okay, now you're confusing me," Jack said.

Mulder continued to laugh for a few seconds. When he finished, he said, "Let me clarify. Here's my theory: there are an infinite number of universes, which means that there are an infinite combination of events happening across this 'multiverse'. That means that just about any scenario we can think of most likely has happened or will happen in at least one universe. Sometimes, those scenarios that we think of get made into books, movies, television shows, and other media. What is fictional in one universe could be real in another."

Jack thought that he understood the basic concept, but in matters of theoretical science, he trusted his own judgment about as far as he could throw himself. For that reason, he turned to Sam Carter and asked, "Would that work?"

Sam actually looked stumped for a moment, but that moment passed and she said, "Well, there's no scientific theory that says this theory of his cannot be possible, but you couldn't prove it to be true. Unless you could visit millions of alternate universes, such a theory would remain in the confines of metaphysics."

"Unfortunately, I deal with things that cannot be proven by science all the time," Mulder said. He then paused for a moment before speaking up again. "I guess that I could see why people might want to watch my life. I may not enjoy it all of the time, but I have to admit that it isn't dull. I bet that you don't consider your life to be dull either, General O'Neil."

"Hold on for a second, I never told you my name."

"You didn't have to. You see, Time Lords and Xenomorphs are not the only supposedly fictional things that I have encountered in the last 24 hours." Mulder waited for O'Neil to respond, but when the general only gave him looks of confusion, he added, "Tell me, does the name MacGyver mean anything to you."

Jack, unsure where this conversation was going, gave Mulder a suspicious look. "Yah, I've heard of him. He's the guy who makes all sorts of crazy stuff out of household junk. He's played by, uh, by…"

"Richard Dean Anderson," Teal'c stated.

"Yes, that's the guy!" Jack practically shouted to Teal'c. He then turned back to Mulder. "What I don't understand is what MacGyver has to do with us, other than that I've been told I look a lot like him."

"I think that you look _exactly_ like him," Mulder answered.

Realization slowly donned on Jack. "Are you saying that in your universe, there's a show staring us here at the SGC, and I'm played by the guy who gave us MacGyver?"

Mulder nodded.

Jack couldn't help but smile. "Tell me more."

"Now Jack," Daniel interrupted, "I think that you're getting a little off topic." O'Neil ignored him, causing Daniel to place his face in his palm and sigh. When he looked up, he realized it was not just Jack listening intently to Mulder, but Vala as well. _Of course she is_, he thought.

"There was actually a big budget movie first, before the series was adapted to television," Mulder explained.

"How many seasons?" Jack asked.

"There were ten season, plus a few spin-offs, and two straight-to-DVD films."

Sam also chose to interrupt. "Sir, I have to agree with Daniel on this; I think you're being led away from the purpose of the interrogation."

Jack turned away from Mulder, to the current SG-1 team. "Don't tell me you don't think that this is at least a little cool, because I do. Teal'c, you agree with me, right?"

Teal'c did not get a chance to respond. At that moment, alarms started blaring throughout the SGC. They were followed by the voice of Chief Master Sergeant Walter Harriman, better known to various personnel in the SGC as Chevron Guy, coming over the PA system. "Unscheduled Offworld Activation," he said.

"I'm afraid that I am going to have to leave the rest of our little talk for some other time," Jack said as he and SG-1 left and rushed towards the Gate Control Room.

They were gone before Mulder even had the chance to yell, "Wait!" He tried to run after them, but the guards stationed in the room grabbed him and held him tight.

"You need to come with us," said the one on Mulder's left.

"You don't understand. I still need to talk to General O'Neil. Something about this doesn't feel right!"

T

Scully paced around the small quarters that had been given to her and the rest of her companions. Scully had been worried ever since Mulder was taken to be interrogated. Mulder had explained to her who these people were (One would think that a person who saw so many strange things happen in real life would not care too much for science fiction, but apparently Mulder could not get enough of it), and claimed that they were being held by the good guys. Scully could not help but worry anyway. She had gotten even more worried when the alarms started going off. She could not decide if she felt better or worse when she saw Mulder being shoved back into their room.

"What happened?" Agent Reyes asked.

"Someone or something is trying to get through the Stargate," Mulder answered. "We've only been here for about seven hours. This can't be a coincidence."

"Well what do you propose we do about it," a somewhat irritated Agent Doggett asked.

"We have to get out of this room."

T

General O'Neil and the others soon arrived in the Control Room. General Landry was already there. Jack looked down at the Gate Room below to see that the connection had already been made, the Iris had already been closed, and heavily armed officers were already stationed around the Stargate with their guns ready.

"Has there been any attempt to communicate," Cam asked.

"None, sir," Sergeant Harriman answered.

"And SG-2 has already returned," Landry added. "We have no one else scheduled to come through."

"Uh, Colonel Carter, I think you need to see this," Sergeant Harriman said, which prompted Carter to examine his computer before taking a seat at the computer next to him.

"What is it?" Vala asked with a worried look on her face.

"There's a massive buildup of energy in the Gate," Sam answered. "It isn't coming from the Gate itself, or from the other side of the connection. I don't know where it's coming from!"

Sparks flew from the Gate, followed shortly by smoke. In all his years working with Stargates, O'Neil could not recall any time that he had seen one produce smoke. Something had to be wrong.

As soon as it looked like the Stargate could take no more, blood red energy, similar in appearance to the kind that appears when a Stargate is activated, sprang from the Gate, disintegrating the Iris. Normally, the Iris would not be damaged by the opening of a wormhole. This worried Jack even more. His feelings were not helped by the fact that the entire Gate Room was now bathed in red light.

There was stunned silence throughout the Control Room. They had never seen anything like this. It was so unusual that it was not until a black shape came through the Gate that everyone was pulled from their collective stupor. They all recognized the creature. Its demonic form was instantly recognizable. It was a Xenomorph.

And it was not alone.

The stationed guards shot at the first one, but no sooner had they done that, than dozens more came through. They were swarming through the Gate. The Gate on the other side must have been lying down horizontally, for only that could explain how the creatures were managing to come through every inch of the event horizon. More came every second. The soldiers never stood a chance. They were torn to shreds.

"Close off the Gate Room!" Landry ordered as soon as he realized that they would not be able to save the officers down there.

He had acted just in time. One of the Xenomorphs almost made it to the next room, but the automatic door shut a moment before it could.

Shortly after the creatures had been trapped, something else came through the Stargate. Its skin was black and insect-like like theirs. It had a long, bladed tail like they did. That was where the similarities ended. While the Xenomorphs stood on two legs, the new creature carried itself in a less bestial, more human-like posture. Its head was shaped like a human's, though it lacked hair. Instead, it was covered by a thick, jagged exoskeleton, which made it look like the creature was wearing a demonic helmet. It even had a face, with lips, a nose, and blood red eyes. It used those eyes to look up at the men and women staring at it in the Control Room, especially General O'Neil. While keeping eye contact with O'Neil, it took a small, strange device that it had carried through the Gate and tapped it as if it was checking a microphone.

"Sir, I think it wants to talk to you," said an obviously terrified Sergeant Harriman as he activated the speakers, allowing communication between the two rooms.

Jack admitted to himself that what had happened in the Gate Room had frightened him a little bit, but there was no way he was going to let that effect him at a time like this. So, he took one of the room's microphones, looked the creature straight in the eye, and said, "Who… no, _what_ are you?"

The creature smiled, revealing a mouth full of predatory teeth. If that face had human skin and human teeth, then that smile might have actually looked friendly. Instead, it only made the creature look more monstrous.

"I'm the Doctor."

**To be Continued**


End file.
